Oregon Music News

It is 9pm and Logan Lynn and The Gentry are scrambling to sound-check in a cavernous warehouse space in Portland’s NW industrial district. “We’re in the Dandy’s kingdom,” Lynn says of The Odditorium, the sprawling studio of the Dandy Warhols.

The main room has giant murals leaning on almost every surface, a small fleet of motorcycles in the rear. There’s a kitchen outfitted better than most restaurants. The oddly placed nooks, crannies, windows and doors suggest a building cobbled together from several smaller ones.

The band is setting up for an early morning video shoot at The Odditorium with local CBS affiliate Koin 6. They’re shooting promo videos too, for a tour they’re kicking off this Thursday, May 27th, at the Doug Fir Lounge with DoublePlusGood and Fleshtone.

Logan Lynn is known for his emotronic, electro-pop, and OMN has profiled him before. In the past he’s mostly performed alone, sometimes bringing along a producer like Cars & Trains, while he stood out front crooning into a mic over layers of soft electronics. But for this Thursday’s show, and this summer’s upcoming tour, he’s brought along a full band: slamming dance-electro rockers The Gentry.

He calls himself a “bad hostess” as the band hurries to set up. He seems anxious, but affable. Will an act that’s gained popularity for soft, emotive electronics sit well with an accustomed fan base after adding a full, raucous band?

“I was scared about what people were gonna do,” Lynn says. But after their first performance at Blow Pony in February, “We had every single ear and eye on us. They were into it. I checked the video just to make sure. It’s real.”

The transition began in December “and we just went full force, we started practicing 30 hours a week.” OMN caught up with Logan Lynn, and Gino Mari (vocals, guitar), Steve Taylor (synthesizers, bass), and Andrew Carrion [A.C.] (drums) of The Gentry between rehearsals to talk about the change. Plus, there’s a new live track of their collaboration below.

Logan Lynn and The Gentry rocking out on “Bottom Your Way to the Top” (LIVE at the Dandy Warhol’s Odditorium on 5/25/2010):

Looking at some old stuff, I noticed that Gino had done a remix for you. Is that where the relationship began?

Logan: Well kinda. The remix relationship had happened because they had played a show with us when we played with Dhalia  [at East End]. I was impressed with how they were. It was the first I had sort of seen of electronic rock or something that made me want to dance, but with live instruments. Back then… there were a lot of people trying to do that and [The Gentry] were wild enough to entertain me. When it was time to do the remix record I hollered at them cuz I knew that they would be able to do something good… A couple weeks into doing the remixes I got a weird licensing deal from my label, and it was for some new Cedric the Entertainer show [laughs]. It was for this scene where, they’re like in the car “rollin’ up” and it was supposed to be some sort of hip-hop in the car, and then when they open the door it needed to get really “gay” [everyone laughs]. It was from Dreamworks or something.

Gino: Yeah, I think it was like a cop or something.

Logan: It’s like a cop rolls up there, and then they roll down the window, and it sounds really gay. So I was like if anyone can do something weird… out of the 28 guys I had doing remixes, these guys could do it. None of them are gay, but I knew that they had dirty minds. So I just picked the people that I thought were most perverted on the list.

Gino qualifies.

Gino: I’m perverted? You think I’m perverted? I’m just a sweet guy, what are you talking about? I am a gentle giant.

Logan: I disagree

[Laughter]

I’m wondering, where was the approach?

Logan: You came to my listening party.

Gino: Yeah that’s right.

Logan: I had a hell of a time figuring out my live show, from the first time I started playing until now. It has taken a while.

With your live show before, it was pretty much pre-programmed with you singing?

Logan: Yeah. The idea initially was a “singing DJ” and then somewhere along the line it turned more into like…

Being the performer versus being the DJ.

Logan: Right, I took the headphones off and stepped up. It just took me a while. I have crippling stage-fright, historically. That was my problem I think. So I was gradually getting more recognition, and feeling less comfortable as more people were looking and having opinions about what I was doing on stage. And it became clear that I needed a band, and I wanted to work with somebody who I respected. And these guys came to my…

Gino: Aww. [laughs]

Logan: Listening party and something clicked, and I was like “What are you guys doing? Are you guys really busy right now?”

How long was that transition in your career?

Logan: From 2000 when my first record came out.

So really that long, almost ten years before you decided: “I need to get a band.”

Logan: Yes. But there was like 6 years where I was like in party town, living in an alternate universe. I lost some time to the party wagon. I think I got serious about all this in 2007. Since [then] it’s been one thing after another. It started with my producer from Pillar to Post. I kind of dragged him on stage an said “You HAVE to do this, we’re gonna go and play shows!” And he ended up moving. Then, I worked with Cars & Trains. He’s an indie, electro-pop, one-man show and it was great, I did that for a year. And then it was just time to make it louder and wilder. I needed something to pull me out of my shell, I think, and the loudness has done that. And with Gino, these guys on stage, it’s way less scary, it’s fun instead of being terrifying.

From seeing past Gentry shows, Gino is a hell of a frontman.

Logan: Totally.

Gino: Aww, guys.

Logan: I’m shy and he’s not.

But for this project at least, Logan, you’re the actual frontman, so you have to sort of step up, beyond somebody who is used to having that role.

Gino: But what’s good is that I kind of force him to. Because it’s not like I sit back. I’m still me.

Logan: He’s still Gino out there.

Gino: I’m still all about that rock ‘n’ roll, escapist raaaa, crazy.

So what are your roles now. I mean A.C., he’s quiet in person, but he’s a monster on drums. For Gino, are you playing mostly backup stuff?

Gino: I play guitar, and I sing backup stuff, and I’m gonna do keyboards. But mostly just harmonies and guitar.

Steve, what’s your role.

Steve: I play mostly synth and electric bass. I don’t really play leads or anything like that now, it’s all bass.

For The Gentry, as a band, do you have a dedicated bassist right now?

Gino: It’s a machine.

Logan: We like computers.

Steve: After seven of them we replaced them with a machine.

[Laughter]

Logan: The way that the show goes, just to give you an idea, we’ve merged the units. We’re going on tour together as kind of one band, but it’s two bands. The Gentry sort of starts off the set, and plays their set… and they kind of bring me on stage. [Then] we play a whole other set where they don’t really change their position, except that Gino sort of slides over, and I pop out… Once I pop on, they’re still The Gentry, but it’s my songs. But they’ve been totally reworked by these guys.

And are you gonna do anything by yourself, or is everything formatted for a band?

Logan: No, it’s all brand new.

Steve: There was talk…

Logan: There are some times where its calm, and it’s just me singing. But there’s not really time where I go and clutch the mic in anticipation of something happening.

Going back and listening to your stuff, Logan, it seems really sensitive. The emo thing gets tagged to you a lot.

Logan: Sure.

But I think of The Gentry as being really macho. Even though it is dance music and ’80s, there’s a certain machismo to it.

Logan: Its chick bangin-rock.

Yeah so now its chick-bangin’ rock mixed with dude-bangin’ rock.

[Laughter]

Gino: It’s just an appreciation of sex.

Logan: Just bangin’ all around. I’ve been called the “Ambassador of Bisexuality” before, and I’m not bisexual. But my imagery that I put out in my videos… I had the first gay kiss on MTV, well man-to-man.

Are you worried about alienating people who came to like your through your softer sound?

Logan: I don’t know, I’m kind of in the business of alienating people. In the beginning, I was making records that I didn’t think anybody was going to listen to. And then when they started listening I changed it up again and then made some weird electro-clash record. I think the common element in all my work is me, and my words, and my songs, and my melodies. That stays the same no matter what the energy behind it is. This is just like a brand new energy that’s been worked into the same songs. People are going to recognize the songs. They just hit heavier and have grown large and epic instead of soft and sweet.

But do you think it still is dance-y?

Logan: Oh, it’s so dance-y.

Gino: It kind of like [an] electronic Buzzcocks, Stooges. Really primal simple parts.

Steve: We really tapped into ’70s punk for a lot of these songs.

Logan: It’s like dance-punk.

’70s punk is the last thing I would ever think when I heard your stuff.

Logan: I am not punk though. That’s the thing, that’s what I’m saying. I haven’t changed the way I’m singing necessarily. It’s them, they’ve brought their Gentry. That’s the thing. I’m still soft. They’re hard, I’m soft and it comes together in this new way. But it’s familiar. I think we’ll hold on to my fans, and [The Gentry] are gonna get some new ones.

And you’re comfortable now, or even excited.

Logan: I’m so excited, everything rules. And even A.C.’s energy back there… That alone versus some programmed beat it changes the whole fucking scope.

Steve: It changes the whole dynamic entirely.

Gino: Well the three of us have been playing [as The Gentry] for so long we have a natural…

It’s been like six years.

Gino: Even longer. What’s cool is that we get to try out a lot of things that we’re interested in the moment. And it’s nice to not be the frontman, cuz I’ve always been the frontman. I’ve always had to be the singer. To just be a guitar player… it’s fun, the simplicity of being able to leave [the mic]. I’m not attached to a microphone, though I do sing vocals I can leave, and the song isn’t done [just] because I’m not singing.

Logan: You can jump off the stage.

Gino: Exactly, I can do my crazy thing and it lets me take that exhibition further because I’m not trapped to the center of the stage and singing into my mic [where] if I miss my cue everything is fucked.

Logan: That’s my job.

Gino: It’s cool too, because we’ve been really into dynamics lately and we get to do some experiments with some really soft parts of songs and then big, loud. Just experimenting with playing as a band rather than being an electronic unit. I mean we still use computers and we still…

So there’s still a lot of programming there, but some of the songs are free form.

Logan: Some have [no programming].

Gino: And they’re totally different from The Gentry.

Logan: Its working, but its been an adjustment.

Especially as a DJ where you have a record, a program, something else in front of you the whole time.

Logan: Definitely. It’s a new world. It’s a more enjoyable world from what I’ve experienced so far… There’s not one sound within our band or within our set that makes it pinpointable, but it’s all one thing. It’s all hard, fast, rock, dance, wildness.

Are you working on any new material that you’ve only just started with the band, or is this all old material?

Logan: No, no. Yea, I finished making a new record, which we’re mixing now. So I’d say half the set is stuff from this new record that nobody has ever heard before. They’re gonna hear it the first time as The Gentry’s version of it.

Is there anything from that you’d be willing to share with OMN?

Logan: Sure, yeah definitely, but I have to check with some people on that [laughs]. I’m not in charge of me anymore.

Logan Lynn seems anxious but confident about the new sound. “I’m in contact with the people who are listening to my music. That’s how this whole thing started, that’s how its built up to this point. That’s how I know somebody’s gonna be there tomorrow.”

It’s those relationships that fuel Lynn’s music. “It’s great that I get good reviews or whatever, but the people who I actually care about are the people I’m talking to online, that are coming up to me after shows, that are interested in what they just heard. You gotta feed the tree.”

Logan Lynn and The Gentry will be playing this Thursday, May 27th at the Doug Fir Lounge, 9pm with DoublePlusGood and Fleshtone.

The combination of Logan Lynn and Cars & Trains playing together at the Doug Fir last Thursday was as fresh as I’d hoped, and The Gentry added an element of power.

The show represented the Portland showcase of Lynn’s already nationally acclaimed fourth album, From Pillar to Post, and the debut of Cars & Trains’ sophomore album, The Roots, The Leaves, which comes out on January 24th.  The Gentry, now sharing backup duty for Logan with Cars & Trains, showcased this new synthesis last week as well.

The performance, with Lynn backed by Cars & Trains, was honest and a little gritty but fresh, while at the same time evoking a throwback to Mates of State’s My Solo Project. Lynn’s soulful, slightly melancholy vocals were contrasted with happier, upbeat backup, creating a push-pull phenomenon, which gave the music depth and interest. The sound this duo produces is more than superficial–you have to think deeper to get it as a whole, which is refreshing, and likely why it’s frequently awarded the emotronic title–emotionally open, complexly happy-sad.

At the end of the show The Gentry joined the rest of the musicians on stage for a finale. While The Gentry opened the night with their own set of sucker punching beat-infused rock, they closed by backing Lynn and changing the overall story. The combo of Lynn and Cars & Trains says, “Here are some painful things, but what the fuck, let’s dance it off!” The combo of Lynn and The Gentry says, “Here are some painful things, let’s break a hoe… what?”  Exhibit A: What one does. Exhibit B: What one’s Id would do.

The whole experience left the audience eerily aware of Lynn’s inner workings, which I think is why he’s so relatable.

Santa obviously didn’t check his list twice if you didn’t get these in your stockings, clogs, or near your radiator.

There’s already too much out there written about these 5 albums and rightfully so.  Whether they be low-fi-electro-newcomer dreamboats, hardened indie popsters drenched in French flavors, or my favorite indie folker taking a symphonic approach in his artistic adoration of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, these 5 made my year.  In no particular order, I bless the following 5 :

Neon Indian — Psychic Chasms : Alan Palomo will be huge.  He visited Mississippi Studios this October and was nice enough to chat with OMN before the gig even though he’s busy dynamiting the indie blogosphere on a daily basis.

Phoenix — Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix : So poppy, so catchy, such warm indie love from the lush, palatial Parisian suburb Versailles.  Don’t miss them on January 24th at the Crystal.

Sufjan Stevens — The BQE : This man is my love.  He amazes and stuns every time–this time with a mixed-medium artistic exploration about a stretch of concrete that included an orchestral performance and film.  And rumors still roam that Oregon tops the list of the next great state he’ll document in song (although those rumors are almost 5 years old… but we can still wish, can’t we?).

Metric — Fantasies : Lovely Miss Emily Haines and company released another devastatingly poppy effort.  Nothing new, nothing groundbreaking from the Toronto crew, but damn it’s catchy and they showed PDX a few weeks ago at the Crystal.

Pretty Lights — Passing Behind Your Eyes : Amidst brash Biggie samples and calling out MJ, Derek Vincent Smith’s digital beats have moved from chilled out ambiance to banging club anthems.  Touring with a live drummer, there’s something natural about his electronic synthesis that he brought to the Crystal this fall.  Support this man, all his music is free right here!

And since I can’t resist adding a sixth… it goes to Rodrigo y Gabriela — 11:11.  Although not as stunning as their debut, 11:11 holds its own and if you’d seen them live at the Schnitz this fall, then you’d understand why lightning strikes every time speed metal touches classical Spanish guitars.

More importantly, what happened in Oregon this last year?

Hockey — Mind Chaos : Oh-so-hip dance rock from these awesome new wavers.  They’re finally getting some recognition and gaining steam worldwide nominated for a MTV Europe video award this year.  And they just opened for Passion Pit here in PDX.

Starfucker — Jupiter : Even though it was just an EP, none of us could just wait while the boys meddled around changing names and touring Amsterdam.

YACHT — See Mystery Lights : Jona Bechtolt picked up Claire Evans and released their glitch-pop, electro heart attack on disc for DFA Records, remixed Wolfmother, and then took Japan by storm.  Bam!  Not bad for a couple of triangles.

Stephanie Schneiderman — Dangerous Fruit : She hooked up with Keith Schreiner (Auditory Sculpture) and made some sexy, sultry, soothing trip-hop tinging with poised ambiance to make aural moods in my mind and body.  Relaxed and delectable, Stephanie is a long way from her female pop rock with Dirty Martini and she’s unclasping cocktail hours at Jimmy Mak’s starting in February.

Logan Lynn — From Pillar To Post : A Midwest to PDX transplant, this emotronic man got scooped up by the Dandys’ Beat The World Records and made some sweet electropop.  Sad lyrics married with happy beats, Logan will be around the Doug Fir on January 7th and told OMN his story before his November album release party.

May Ling at the Old Town Block Party with Lee's Association Lion Dance Team. Photo by Mallory Freed.

But who cares?  This is all old news.  Here’s what’s happening in 2010.

In ORE : May Ling are already blazing through their second recording and you can expect a spectacularly colorful music video for “New Year” featuring Portland Lee’s Association Lion Dance Team (and they’re on tap January 2nd for Rotture’s Superfresh) while teammates Explode Into Colors are working on a full length after releasing a trio of 7 inches this year and gearing up for SXSW.  Get the lowdown on both when OMN interviewed ‘em in November.

And there’s material to be expected from the recently christened PYRAMIDDD (ex-Starfucker) as well as something magnificently electro-dancey from Very International Love, also available in a live format on January 7th at Rotture.

In the rest-o-the-world : We have the debut from the electro-icy Parallels from Toronto, a new LCD Soundsystem, and after 7 years of hibernation, more Massive Attack!

Radiohead just announced they’re entering the studio and The Strokes already did that studio thing, so when’s the new album out?

Happy Holidays.  It’s just a shame Arctic Blast didn’t make an appearance this year.

– Chris Young : Associate Editor // DJ/Electro Editor

Logan Lynn makes emotronic, electropop.  A gay man from America’s heartland, raised in a family of cult-like, born-again Christians, he’s found a way out of some dark, lost days.

Influenced by folk music growing up and DJs in Chicago, Logan’s demo was titled This Is Folk Techno.  Sentimental lyrics paired with capricious electro-beats, Logan’s sound ranges from dejected to dancey, creating moods that resemble The Postal Service.

Relishing in Portland’s creativity, Logan is signed to The Dandy Warhols’ label Beat The World and is becoming a people person.

He celebrates his new album From Pillar To Post with a listening party on Sunday, November 22nd at Jinx Bar with The Dandy’s Zia McCabe spinning records as DJ Rescue, but before the drinks, Logan chats about being emo, hiding under the sheets, and grandma’s adages.

Listen to “Feed Me To The Wolves” from the new album.

Well, that depends.  If “emo” is short for “emotional” and you are asking if I think my music is that, I would answer “yes.”  If you mean “emo” in the traditional sense of the word (aka 18-year-old high school kids wearing shit tons of eyeliner and whining about their girlfriends and parents), then the answer is “no.”  I’m fine with the word having been slowly attached to me over the years… I think that, as the definition changes with the addition of “emotronic” and other sub-categories within the genre, it makes more sense.  I have made peace with the fact that I am hard to categorize at times, both in music and in life.

Who is Logan Lynn personally?  Musically?

Well, I’ve spent years trying to make those two match up.  I think I am finally there these days, or at least on my way to being there.  My main goal for myself both musically and personally is to exist in a place of transparency and truth.  I believe that the only way we can ever really be free is to look at ourselves honestly and project that truth into the world, however ugly or beautiful it might be looking or sounding at any given moment.

Similarly, musically, I am an open book.  I want people to either connect to me and my tunes with the full story or decide that it’s not their bag, having heard me as I really am.  I’m pretty sure that the day I start candy-coating my lyrics will be the day I stop caring about music and having listeners.  Bottom line: I’m an imperfect work in progress and am fine just being that during my time here… so long as I am always learning, always growing, and doing my best to not repeat the same mistakes over and over, I’m into it.

I have always fallen into the electropop category, though I tend to move around within that genre quite a bit.  By 1996 I had DJ’d other people’s music in the Midwest party scene for years and always listened to folk music and sensitive female vocalists growing up, so when I started writing songs of my own there were elements of both worlds of inspiration brought into the mix.

I hooked up with a Portland producer named Pfog in 1998 who had gotten his hands on a demo I had self-released called This Is Folk Techno.  We spent a year or so working on GLEE, which was released in 2000, and I have since worked with a bunch of producers, each time changing the sound of the music a bit.

The instrumental side of my sound develops as I get the opportunity to work with other talented folks who know how to do and play things which don’t fall under my expertise.  My lyrics and vocal work tend to grow sonically as I push myself out of my comfort zone, let go of my deep-seeded fears about being exposed or rejected, and grow personally.

Yeah, I’m guessing that is partially about my dance music influences creeping in and partially a protective mechanism for myself.  I write about my feelings as they are (as opposed to how I wish they would be) and it’s scary to put that out there with people you know, much less the world at large.  With my songs, I tend to dive headfirst into my darker parts at times and let people just crawl into my head with me to check things out for themselves.  The idea that people can go there in an enjoyable way makes it easier for me to put my words onto paper or into the air in the first place.

I like that I can have more than one type of listener and that the songs themselves can be absorbed in different ways by the same listener, depending on the day.  If you feel like dancing or if you feel like going fetal in your bed under the blanket with headphones, it can work for both.

I make music to clear my head, to shrink my world to a manageable size, to not feel so fucking all alone all the time.  It’s nice to know that other people are finding a home with my songs and feeling these same sorts of feelings.  The connection that is made there goes both ways and has been really life-changing on this end.

It used to be that the only time I was able to be truthful about how I felt was through my songs and writing.  That’s not the case anymore, but I started making records for that reason alone, never really thinking anyone would ever hear them aside from my friends, family, and people who I could not otherwise communicate with.  It started as a safe way for me to get the shit that was literally killing me out of my skull so I could move past it, and has continued to be that sort of outlet for me.  Once I have turned my broken feelings into a story or a physical product of some sort, they tend to start to fix themselves.  It’s like therapy, only super public.

Tell me about Portland.  We all love it here.  Why do you?

Yeah!  I love it here too.  I moved here in ‘96 back when what is now The Pearl looked like an abandoned railway system and the air smelled like rotten Spaghetti-O’s from all the breweries.  I got here just as the current music scene was really starting to form and got to watch it grow into what it is today and be a part of it as it formed.  I’ve moved away a couple of times since for brief stints in bigger cities, but I always come back.  It’s clean, beautiful, quiet, inexpensive, you don’t have to pump your own gas, and there’s tons of stuff going on.  How could I ever move?

I moved here from Kansas City to go to school.  My parents lived out here and I had come out to visit.  It took one magical night at The City nightclub during that trip and I had decided that PNCA was the only school in the entire world.  I ended up moving here shortly after.

I was raised the son of a preacher in the Church of Christ, which was a very cult-like section of the born-again world… at least where I was in rural Nebraska.  Most of the fears and difficulties I have faced as I have tried to move into adulthood were adopted back then.  I grew up feeling alone, hidden in plain sight.  I could not be myself in that environment so I had to lie about who I was, which led me down a really dark path for many years.  That darkness and those feelings of isolation and regret all play into my writing now and always have.  I think, in general, it’s unsettling to turn your back on everything you’ve ever known and break out on your own.  It certainly was for me.

What’s the connection to the Dandys?  How’d that happen?

In 2007 I was working with a company in Portland that was designing and building stores for American Apparel.  I was in Los Angeles on business for a photo shoot with photographer Ray Gordon and gave him my CD.  He liked it and it just happened to turn out that he was good friends with Courtney (Taylor-Taylor) from The Dandy Warhols.  Ray ended up passing the CD along to him and, from there, they came to my show for MusicfestNW and we set up a meeting.  I came by The Odditorium later that week and Courtney told me about the record label they were starting and asked if I’d be interested in making my record there and releasing it on Beat The World.  I think I said “Hell Yes” or something and the rest is totally awesome history.

Yeah, it’s confusing.  I was about to release the record on my own in 2007 right when I got signed with Beat The World.  Courtney’s advice was that I “shut it down” and re-make the thing properly in their studio with their engineers, which I did.  It had the same title and a few of the same songs, but it ultimately turned out completely different than it was before.  Listening to Mr. Taylor-Taylor in 2007 was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  Anyway, it got pushed back and we ended up taking our time with it.  From there, the release has changed, bigger players have come on board for distribution and such, dates have changed, etc… but the end result is light years beyond what it would have been and I’m really glad it has worked out the way it did… confusing pushbacks and all.

Listen to “Write It On My Left Arm” from the new album.

What’s the significance of the album title?

My grandma used to say the term From Pillar To Post when describing her busy day, or someone whose life had run amuck at church or in the family or whatever.  It stuck with me through the years and it took on some personal meaning as I started to run amuck in my own life, burning bridges as I crossed them, hurting everyone in my path.  The record is about my journey through the ending of my relationship, my struggles with addiction, and my determination to find truth and light amidst lies and darkness, both internal and external.  The record is all one story broken up into segments with song beginnings and endings, but is a snapshot of my life from that time.

I fancy myself a singer/songwriter and I can play very basic keys and guitar, mostly from having lessons when I was a kid… just enough to build the framework.  I played most all the instruments on my records before 2007 rolled around and I started working with Carlos Cortes from Portland-to-Brooklyn DJ Collective Assemble The Empire.  Our connection was fast and he was on-point with what I was wanting to see happen with my music.

We worked well together and, through our network and The Dandys’ network, we were able to work with TONS of people on the record and even more people after the fact with the remix project.  I got loads of help this time around.  That’s why it sounds so much better than the old stuff.  I stopped being a control freak and let other people do what they are good at.  It worked out.

MySpace basically lit the fire for what is happening in my world now.  I was super behind the times until 2006 when my friend forced me to get a MySpace page going.  Within a few weeks I had started building up an online group of listeners and started booking shows… the first of which was at the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.  There were over 400,000 people in attendance and it was wild but turned some key people onto my music.  Things snowballed from there.  I have, since then, been building relationships with fans and listeners and the sea of people has grown quite large at this point.  I owe a lot to that direct connection with the people and tend to put most of my non-musical energy into that side of things these days.

I’m influenced by all sorts of stuff.  I’m obviously influenced directly by the bands around me these days.  Aside from the other bands on my label (The Dandy Warhols, The Upsidedown, Spindrift, and 1776) I’m surrounded by other artists in town who are doing their thing authentically, getting noticed, and making it happen.  I’m lucky that I am in such close proximity to them.  I get to learn their music industry lessons vicariously.

At the root, much of my writing influence stems from years and years of listening to bands like The Innocence Mission, The Sundays, and whatever folksy stuff my parents had playing in the car while I was a kid.  Blend in the early years of singing a capella in the church and the wild partying techno days which followed and you get my sound.  I spent a lot of time listening to solo artists like Tori Amos, Elliott Smith, and Liz Phair as I was growing up, and I’m sure that being drawn into their heads during my formative years influenced what it means to me to be a songwriter in many ways.  I was like a sponge back then, and I still feel a deep connection with many of their songs.

Emily Haines…always.

Grateful, Hopeful, Irrepressibly Optimistic…. wait, that was 4.  Sorry.

Atmospheric, Moody, Electro-pop.  Whoopsies… that was kinda 4 too.

It’s similar to what you would see if you went to see a singer-songwriter, only instead of guitars and pianos accompanying my voice, I have someone running computers, drumpads, loopers, and gadgets.

I have PDX show with Cars & Trains and The Gentry at the Doug Fir on January 7th.

Any awkward moments on stage?

I exist in a place of supreme awkwardness in my life lately as I’ve been doing things on the sober tip and sorta re-learning how to be, but my shows have actually gotten less awkward as a result.  I think the strangest show we had was in New York City in 2007.  We played a Dlist.com party called Cornhole County and there was a drag queen running a petting zoo as the opening act.  It was bizarre, to say the least.  This baby goat kept chewing on our cords and we spent most of the night trying not to sneeze and picking tiny pieces of straw off our clothes.

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Sunday, November 22, 2009
Logan Lynn : Listening Party From Pillar To Post
Featuring DJ Rescue (Zia McCabe from The Dandy Warhols)
Jinx Bar
8 PM
Free
21+